5 minutes with...

Please provide a brief introduction to yourself & Goodto.com

I've been a freelance parenting and lifestyle journalist for 15 years and have had bylines in most national newspapers (including the Daily Mail, Express, Telegraph and The Guardian) and in a wide range of print and digital publications (including Grazia, Red, and Psychologies) in that time. I was baby gear editor of Mother & Baby magazine for six years, a regular contributor to IndyBest, and a columnist for AOL's Parentdish. I was appointed Consumer Editor of Goodto in October last year - my first full-time in-house role and my most exciting gig yet! It's a remote role so I live in Northern Ireland (on a golf course at present with cracking views of the beach!) with my husband and our three children, aged 8, 15, and 17. (Yes, I have my hands full, yes, they're funny age gaps that make family holidays and cinema trips challenging and no, I don't recommend ending up with teens studying for GSCEs, A-levels and driving tests at the same time!) I mainly look after our e-commerce content, writing and commissioning baby gear buying guides (all of which currently have page one Google ranking...) as well as seasonal parenting product roundups and toy/gift guides - everything from the best Father's Day gifts to the top toys for Christmas.

Give us the inside scoop, what is your favourite part about working as Consumer Editor?

I absolutely love my job - it's a dream gig, so it's hard to pick one thing. The people I work alongside make it extra special. Also, I love knowing that we're helping parents find the products that will really make their lives easier - we all know the joy of finding that one thing that you couldn't live without or the item that's a total game-changer that gives you back some time or alleviates some stress when you're a time-pressed, sleep-deprived parent - and the woe of spending money on something useless that you later regret.

What’s the most memorable approach you’ve had from a PR (good or bad)?

The time a PR casually asked if I fancied an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy to spend three days shopping and being driven around in a Porsche whilst staying in a converted monastery. I did. It was amazing! Although the pictures weren't good enough to use so the piece never ran. Yikes.

If you could give a PR advice on what to do to get your attention and secure coverage with you - what would it be?

Read what we publish! There is literally no substitute for knowing what kind of stuff we do and don't cover - it'll make your pitch relevant, timely, and targeted in a way that will make it stand out from the hundreds (sob) of mostly irrelevant emails I get every day.

Ask questions - if you're not sure how to secure coverage or get my attention, ask away. I'm always happy to give a steer on the kind of pieces I'm working on and the sort of things I'm after.

Don't be shy about being relational! Some of my favourite people are PRs I've met in the course of work and it's so much easier (and more fun) to work together to mutual satisfaction if we have a friendship. So follow me on Insta, nudge me to follow you back and don't be shy about pinging me an email to say hello or catch me up on your latest clients.

Tell us something fun that people don't know about you?

Um, I've been a guest on the This Morning sofa and I'm currently training to be a life coach...!

We love looking at your scenic pictures of the beach on your Instagram! Tell us, what is your favourite thing about living by the sea?

Ahh, just knowing it's there so I can nip down for a blast of head-clearing, spirit-lifting sea air at any time of day or night is bliss. And the sunsets are exceptional at this time of year!

Please provide a piece of recent coverage you have been working on, that best demonstrates the type of articles you usually write

This piece was a labour of love that I commissioned and a really good example of the kind of buying guides I'm always working on...